COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (4-2, 0-0 CAA) vs. WESTERN CAROLINA (2-5, 0-0 SoCon)
Game #7
November 30, 2017 • 7:00 p.m. (ET)
TD Arena/John Kresse Court (5,100)
at Charleston, S.C.
 
Television: None
Radio: College of Charleston Radio Network (ESPN Radio 910 AM)
Series History: CofC Leads 21-7
Last Meeting: CofC def. WCU, 77-59, on Dec. 22, 2016 in Cullowhee, N.C.
Internet: Free Live Statistics at www.CofCStats.com
Live Video: Free Live Video at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/charleston/
Tickets: www.CofCSports.com/tickets
Twitter: @CofCBasketball
 
THE COACHES
College of Charleston: Earl Grant
Fourth Year at CofC: 55-50
Fourth Year Overall: 55-50
Western Carolina: Larry Hunter
13th Year at WCU: 182-215
37th Year Overall: 691-439
 
TELEVISION (None)
 
RADIO (College of Charleston Radio Network)
Play-By-Play: Everett German
Color Analyst: Danny Johnson
 
GAME PREVIEW
After a five-game road swing and 20 days away from the friendly confines of TD Arena, the College of Charleston men's basketball team (4-2) returns home to the Lowcountry to host former Southern Conference rival Western Carolina (2-5) on Thursday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. (ET). Between airplane and bus, CofC logged in a total of 10,000 miles traveling to the states of Kansas, North Carolina and Alaska during its extensive road stretch. Now back on their home turf for a three-game homestand and to study for final exams, the Cougars will also face High Point on Dec. 4 and North Greenville on Dec. 10. Defensively, they are currently holding opponents to just 63.5 points of scoring production, which ranks No. 44 in the nation. In back-to-back games at the Great Alaska Shootout, CofC held both Sam Houston State and Alaska Anchorage to under 50 points in Anchorage, Alaska. Senior guard Joe Chealey was named to the Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team – becoming the seventh CofC player to be honored in the program's three all-time appearances of the tournament since 1996 – by averaging a team-leading 18.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game. The other greats that he joined on that short list? Stacy Harris, Thaddeus Delaney, Anthony Johnson, Troy Wheless, Thomas Mobley and Zeke Johnson. Chealey notched his second career double-double with a game-high 26 points, career-high 10 assists and six rebounds versus Cal Poly on Nov. 23 and followed up that performance with 15 points and eight assists in a 55-46 win over host Alaska Anchorage on Nov. 25.
 
SCOUTING WESTERN CAROLINA
The Cougars will face another sharp-shooting team in the Catamounts. Western Carolina currently ranks No. 51 nationally in three-point field-goal percentage (40.0%) behind freshman guard Matt Halvorsen, who is averaging 3.14 threes per contest which is 58th best in the country. WCU is coming off an 82-72 victory over Alabama A&M on Nov. 25 in the 2017 Barclays Center Classic held in Niagara, N.Y. Two of the team's losses on the season came against Top 25-ranked opponents on the road at No. 12 Cincinnati (L, 51-102) on Nov. 13 and No. 14 Minnesota (L, 64-92) on Nov. 19.
 
COUGARS ON THE AIRWAVES
Fans can listen to all CofC men's basketball games throughout the 2017-18 season on ESPN Radio 910 AM in Charleston or via a live audio link at: www.charlestonsportsradio.com. Voice of the Cougars Everett German will call the action live from TD Arena along with color analyst Danny Johnson on the College of Charleston Radio Network.
 
PROJECTED COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON STARTERS
#13 Joe Chealey, G, 6-4, 190, Sr. (19.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 5.0 apg, 36.7 min)
#21 Marquise Pointer, G, 6-0, 220, Jr. (7.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.5 apg, 27.8 min)
#12 Cameron Johnson, G, 6-4, 200, Sr. (10.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.8 apg, 36.0 min)
#24 Jaylen McManus, F, 6-7, 230, So. (4.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.5 apg, 19.0 min)
#23 Nick Harris, F, 6-10, 260, Jr. (6.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 0.7 apg, 28.0 min)
 
PROJECTED WESTERN CAROLINA STARTERS
#2 Matt Halvorsen, G, 6-1, 170, Fr. (13.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 1.4 apg, 23.9 min)
#5 Devin Peterson, G, 6-1, 175, Sr. (11.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 3.3 apg, 24.7 min)
#13 Deriece Parks, G, 6-5, 155, RS-Sr. (8.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.0 apg, 23.3 min)
#12 Marc Gosselin, F, 6-7, 205, Jr. (8.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 23.7 min)
#23 Mike Amius, F, 6-7, 210, Jr. (6.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 0.6 apg, 16.4 min)
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
College of Charleston holds a 21-7 advantage in the all-time series with Western Carolina and has won the last five-straight meetings between the two schools. Last year's 18-point margin of victory was the Cougars' first in double digits over the course of the last six contests with the Catamounts in the series.
 
LAST 10 GAMES IN THE SERIES
W, 77-59, in Cullowhee, N.C. on 12/22/16 (+18)
W, 57-56, in Charleston, S.C. on 11/27/15 (+1)
W, 78-70, in Asheville, N.C.^ on 3/9/13 (+8)
W, 67-65, at Cullowhee, N.C. on 2/20/13 (+2)
W, 62-58, at Charleston, S.C. on 2/9/12 (+4)
L, 62-70, at Cullowhee, N.C. on 2/26/11 (-8)
W, 93-64, at Charleston, S.C. on 1/20/11 (+29)
L, 90-100 at Cullowhee, N.C. on 1/25/10 (-10)
W, 67-48 at Chattanooga, Tenn.^ on 3/7/09 (+19)
W, 78-67 at Charleston, S.C. on 2/11/09 (+11)
^ SoCon Tournament
 
COUGARS AGAINST THE SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
Since moving to the Colonial Athletic Association in July of 2013, the Cougars are an undefeated 10-0 versus their former Southern Conference rivals including 2-0 against the Catamounts.
 
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Joe Chealey has scored in double figures in all six games of the 2017-18 season including two 20-point outings. In fact, he has turned in double figures in scoring in 23-straight games (with 13-or-more points) since Jan. 14, 2017. Chealey ended the 2016-17 season on a 17-game double-digit scoring streak including 16 points at Colorado State in the NIT First Round. He is tied with D'Marcus Simonds of Georgia State for the eighth-longest current scoring streaks in NCAA Division I.
                                   
NATIONAL INDIVIDUAL DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORING STREAKS (as of Nov. 28)                           
Name                            School                         No. of Games
Fletcher Magee                  Wofford                        52
Jon Elmore                      Marshall                       41
Victor Sanders                  Idaho                          31
Matt Morgan                     Cornell                        28
Justin Wright-Forman            Hofstra                        28
Thomas Wilder                   Western Michigan               25
Marcus Foster                   Creighton                      24
Joe Chealey                     Col. of Charleston             23
D'Marcus Simonds                Georgia State                  23
Mike Daum                       South Dakota                   22
Xavier Cooks                    Winthrop                       16
Jahad Thomas                    UMass Lowell                   15
 
TAKING CARE OF THE BASKETBALL
In the last two ballgames, the Cougars have turned in an impressive 1.93 assist-to-turnover ratio (31-16) versus Sam Houston State and Alaska Anchorage combined. They have made 10-or-more assists in 4-of-6 contests this season as well as single-digit turnovers in three.
 
ALASKA ANCHORAGE RECAP
College of Charleston 55, Alaska Anchorage 46
• For the second time this season and second-straight game, the College of Charleston used the starting lineup of Joe Chealey, Marquise Pointer, Cameron Johnson, Jaylen McManus and Nick Harris.
• With the win, the Cougars take a 1-0 lead in the all-time series versus Alaska Anchorage. It marked CofC's third all-time appearance (first time to play the host school) in the Great Alaska Shootout and the Cougars are now 7-2 all-time in tournament games played in the 40-year tournament.
• Joe Chealey extended his double-digit scoring streak to six-consecutive games with a game-high 15 points and eight assists. He was named to the All-Tournament Team and put his name in the Great Alaska Shootout record book dishing out 26 assists in three games combined against Cal Poly, Sam Houston State and Alaska Anchorage. Chealey now ranks sixth all-time in assists behind former greats to have played in the tournament including Brevin Knight of Stanford (2nd, 29) in 1996, Steve Smith of Michigan State (4th, 27) in 1989 and Allen Griffin of Syracuse (T7th, 25) in 2000.
• The Cougar defense held Alaska Anchorage to an opponent season-low 46 points in the ballgame. The Seawolves came into the game averaging 63.7 points per game.
• Nick Harris registered a season-high 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and also had a team-high seven rebounds against Alaska Anchorage.
 
COUGAR SOUND BITES
"We have been away for five games and it will be nice to be back in our own building in front of our home crowd. We have to stay true to what we have been doing the whole time. We need to continue to be the best version of ourselves defensively and making sure we rebound. Then offensively, we need to get out more in transition. We get a lot of stops, but we haven't converted a lot of those stops. We haven't gotten enough transition and fast break points. We need to get more offensive rebounds. Our offense is fine. Based on who we are, if we win 65-49, that's who we are. Nothing to be embarrassed about or shy away from. We are not an 80-point team. We won a couple of games where we held both opponents to under 50 (at the Great Alaska Shootout). However, after looking at film, we are leaving 8-to-10 points on the floor. Let's pick up those 8-to-10 points and move on from there." – CofC Head Coach Earl Grant on returning home and what the team needs to improve on in these next couple of home games
 
"We thought we played really well defense wise. In the first game, we didn't play our defense like we should have. We gave up 13-to-14 threes that they (Cal Poly) made. Overall, we bounced back from the first loss and it showed our character and how tough we are mentally." – Junior Guard Marquise Pointer on the Cougars posting a 2-1 record at the Great Alaska Shootout after a first-round loss
 
"It was big time. We had a lot of time to spend with each other and learned a lot about each other. It will all pay off at the end of the season. Hopefully, we learned a lot about ourselves and will apply those lessons on the court." – Senior Guard Joe Chealey on the bonding the team did while in Alaska last week
 
"Honestly, I've said this since we lost Jarrell (Brantley), 'it's next man up.' We hope he has a speedy recovery. But, we have plenty of capable guys and talented guys on our team. We don't think about it like that. We trust our system, and whoever is in there, they will be in the right spots. Coach (Grant) puts us in good position to score and play well." – Chealey on feeling the need to score without Jarrell Brantley in the lineup